careful women runners

jel

there is a guy spitting at women running around Prospect Park. He is tall and wears sunglasses and a heavy coat. Have you seen him or heard about him? How do you report something like this?

quig

Sounds like this guy:

http://brooklynian.com/forum/park-slope/street-harassment-assault

jel

No, it's not this guy. He is tall, 6 ft or so, wears sunglasses (as he is obviously a sick coward) and a heavy green parka/coat and knit ski hat. Looks middle aged, How do you report this? Do you call the local precinct?

piano

Yes, call your local precinct.

Not a lot of action will be done by posting something like this on this site. And by a lot, I mean none. That is unless you want to start a thread debating whether 6 feet is tall, or what years of one's life constitutes being middle aged.

whynot_31

Piano said:

Yes, call your local precinct.

Not a lot of action will be done by posting something like this on this site. And by a lot, I mean none. That is unless you want to start a thread debating whether 6 feet is tall, or what years of one's life constitutes being middle aged.

or whether being male, 6' tall and middle aged makes it more likely that one will spit at women.

...some folks love theorizing about such things.

Jel, please call the local pct. I'm pretty sure the 78th pct covers the park, but 311 will gladly tell you this.

whynot_31

PS. Jel, thanks for posting this, it is good to let folks know what is going on and this board can be very useful in that regard

bkchickie

Thanks for letting us know; that's certainly helpful. Call the precinct and make a report.

And who knows, maybe this thread will become the "Catch an iPhone Thief" thread of 2011. [When was the iPhone-thief neighborhood watch? Last year? 2009?]

whynot_31

Bkchickie,

This is thread you are thinking of:

http://brooklynian.com/forum/prospect-heights/warning-thief-on-bike-evenings-nr-park-pl-vanderbilt/page/8?postid=666651

I'm pretty sure it was a Fall 2009 - Winter of 2010 adventure.

Note: No need to read the last few pages of the thread, it changes from "catch a thief" to "guy gets ticket for biking on sidewalk".

jel

I called the precinct and they told me to call 911 the next time it happens. I said the police should be aware of ongoing incidents in the park as well so can't I file a report. They repeated the same thing. It doesn't seem like the best option. Any advice?

MOD

Then call 911!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is the best option for immediate assistance if you are feeling "threatened." <--Key word here, if you want this guy to get police attention on him.

Or you can be clever, take photos/video on your camera or phone and send it off to blogs/news-stations and turn this whole thing viral.

thelambchop

I think if you walk into the precinct then they have to let you make a report. Insist on it. My understanding has been that the police discourage non-contemporaneous reports, because the information is stale and thus limits their ability to actually do anything about that particular incident. Yet it still goes down in their statistics as a reported crime. I can understand that, but from the community's perspective, there has to be a way other than blogs that we can let the police know about ongoing, repeated crime that may not seem to rise to the level of 911-worthy at the time.

stacey

I would also spread the word to local running groups like Brooklyn Road Runners club, etc.

piano

jel said:

I called the precinct and they told me to call 911 the next time it happens ... Any advice?

Do as they suggest. Do you really think you should take the advice of strangers on a bulletin board over your local police precinct? The police are not going to suggest that you call 911 for something that is frivolous or that isn't appropriate for 911.

bkchickie

jel said:

I called the precinct and they told me to call 911 the next time it happens. I said the police should be aware of ongoing incidents in the park as well so can't I file a report. They repeated the same thing. It doesn't seem like the best option. Any advice?

Sorry if this sounds sarcastic, but what would be a better option? Should NYPD send a helicopter to hover over you as you jog? If the officer told you to call 911, then call 911. Once the police arrive, I believe that you can then file a report.

piano

BKChickie said:

Sorry if this sounds sarcastic, but what would be a better option? Should NYPD send a helicopter to hover over you as you jog? If the officer told you to call 911, then call 911. Once the police arrive, I believe that you can then file a report.

Are you really sorry? I believe Jel was implying that calling 911 is overkill. I wouldn't think spitting on someone constitutes an emergency either, but if the precinct says so, then it is.

FYI - if you're going to be sorry for sounding sarcastic, then don't write something sarcastic. Or were you actually being serious about the NYPD deploying helicopters to protect joggers from wayward saliva?

Do we want to encourage people to post potentially helpful posts like Jel's, or show off our snarkiness?

bkchickie

You're right Piano!

Piano said:

Are you really sorry? I believe Jel was implying that calling 911 is overkill. I wouldn't think spitting on someone constitutes an emergency either, but if the precinct says so, then it is.

FYI - if you're going to be sorry for sounding sarcastic, then don't write something sarcastic. Or were you actually being serious about the NYPD deploying helicopters to protect joggers from wayward saliva?

Do we want to encourage people to post potentially helpful posts like Jel's, or show off our snarkiness?

Sorry, Mom! [Sarcastic, and damn proud of it!]

piano

BKChickie said:

You're right Piano!

Kind of goes without saying.

MOD

I think BK and Piano are both right, and Piano you've been snarky before so don't even go there.

piano

I'd love to see you produce a post where I was snarky to someone trying to be helpful. And we're not both right. Either Jel thought calling 911 wasn't sufficient enough, or thought it was too much. Can't be both.

And I'm not against snarkiness or sarcasm in general - if people know how to use it. If Jel really thinks calling 911 isn't enough, then I'll join in the sarcasm (i.e. calling for the UN to issue a no fly zone over Prospect Park). But being sarcastic just for the sake of it is, well, jerky.

MOD

Edited to clarify "I think you both have a valid POV"

If you both want to argue, then fine, but take it offline via email.

sailboatraces

I know this is a very belated post to this thread, but I have been looking for other women who have been spit on by this guy. He is not only in Prospect Park, although he did get me there once right by the entrance to the F train at 15th Street. He spit on me once on 4th Avenue between 7th and 8th Streets as well almost a year ago. I called the police after the second incident and they told me the same thing, that I should call 911. It seemed excessive to take officers off the street so I ran down to the 72nd precinct and filed a report there. The officer was as helpful as he could be considering I didn't have a name or known address for this guy and told me the same thing, that I should call them if it happens again and they would follow him. Seeing as how I don't run with my phone I wasn't really sure how to handle this. BUT THEN! I found him! He lives somewhere near 4th Avenue and 17th Street because I saw him standing outside the laundry mat right in front of the Prospect Avenue R train stop! Also, he followed me into a 99 cent store on 5th Avenue! I am not quite sure what we can do about this guy but I knew I wasn't the only one experiencing this harassment. OH! I also saw him at the Atlantic Center... he was opening the door with his elbows. Obviously has a germ-phobia... ironic?

I know I should have taken a photo of him (my boyfriend and I discussed it after the last sighting) but my phone sucks. Ah, life without a smart phone can be so... limiting.